(21-01-2017 14:08:05)SageGenesis Wrote: Ben: Dear god, Ben, don't we have enough Summoners already? Can't I interest you in something else? Maybe a nice defender or healer? How about a real Paladin for a change? XD

tssss. pffff. tssss. fine.

nah, it's cool i wasn't married to the summoner class.

i could be pretty interested in bolstering team medic! dunno about being a paladin again, though. after Sterling and my experiences with Garrison, i'm not sure that there's any room left for improvement

that's not a "no," but what're the options? if i can help us put together a better balanced party, then sweet.

Alright, here is a list of all classes which I would consider proper for this game. Other classes do exist of course but they're not really what we're looking for (e.g. the Blackguard that Sterling was). Classes are ordered by their role, as much as is possible.

Defenders

Knight
A Fighter-type, hits fairly hard, locks down enemies, can take a lot of punishment. I believe Mark is interested in making one of these.

Cavalier
A Paladin-type. Also locks down enemies and has some healing/buffing for his allies to assist with their protection.

Berserker
An unusual hybrid. He's like a Defender until he starts his berserker rage, at which point he becomes a Striker. Unlike the previous two classes this one has a more traditional 4e power structure, meaning slightly more powers to handle and choices to juggle on a round to round basis.

Leaders

Warpriest
Basically the kind of Cleric who goes out to kick ass. There are several different sub-types based on which sort of god (or aspect of the divine) they serve, which gives them different powers and abilities. Multiple different Warpriests could comfortably exist within the same party, if they're different sub-types. All Warpriests are based on weapon attacks with a couple of buff/heal spells for their allies.

Sentinel
A Druid-type. Has an animal companion and also based on melee attacks, which come with various buff effects for their allies. If you like spells like Shillelagh and Cat's Grace, this the class for you.

Skald
A Bard-type, also based on melee attacks (see a pattern yet?). Has a special Bard Aura ability that allows allies to heal with their minor actions, instead of yours. Various powers temporarily enhance your Aura with new or improved effects.

(As a quick side note: given the style of this game I'd have a slight preference for two Warpriests rather than one Warpriest + Sentinel or Skald. But they are options, I won't forbid people from playing them.)

Controllers

Hunter
A Ranger-type. Lots of AoE arrow storms, trick shots, and dazing enemies. If you still think that "...until I took an arrow to the knee" is funny to this day, in the year of our lord 2017, this is your class.

Protector
Another Druid. Does not have a permanent animal companion, but they can summon a temporary one. Not based on melee attacks, more about Entangle, Gust of Wind, and conjuring insect swarms. Also has the option of learning some minor healing skills.

The Wizard
Ok, this is a little complicated, because there's four different Essentials Wizards. And some of those have sub-options. Not even kidding.
* The Mage is your classic... mage. AoE spells, teleporting, etc. This is the guy who specializes in schools, like Illusion or Enchantment.
* The Sha'ir is almost exactly like the Mage, but with a focus on the four elements instead of spell schools. Comes with a familiar and has more summoning spells. (And if you're curious, the name comes from the old Al-Qadim setting.)
* The Bladesinger is... weird. Cool but weird. It's a Wizard who stabs people with a sword, which then triggers extra magic sparks. And they can also cast spells normally, which triggers stabbing, which triggers sparks. Kind of. It's a melee-controller mixed with some striker attitude, but sometimes also just acts just like a normal mage. They're weird, but cool. If anybody wants to be a Monk I'd suggest looking at these guys and tweaking their abilities and flavortext a bit.
* The Witch is possibly not entirely suited for this game, but I'll still list it because you can choose between Good Witch and Evil Witch. Guess which one you're allowed to pick? They focus on curses, charming people, and "transforming" enemies, which usually means they briefly can't take opportunity actions and the like.

"She turned me into a newt (save ends)!"

Strikers

Slayer
A Fighter type. If you like picking up a big weapon and hacking people to death with it, while also being tough as nails, look no further.

Thief
Quick, nimble, sneaky. Likes to stab people in the back.

Scout
The other Ranger-type. This is the dual-wielding guy. Not quite as tough as the Slayer and not quite as mobile as the Thief, but exists in a comfortable middle, along with good wilderness skills. (If you want to play a Beastman who rips people open with his claws, this is a good place to start.)

Elementalist Sorcerer
It's simply blasting people with magic for lots of damage. Good for if you want to look like a wizard but don't want to worry about where to place walls and zones.

Executioner
This is an Assassin, like Xune was in the previous Dorkfest game. One of their sub-paths is the Way of the Ninja, which would be the only allowed version in this game because JRPGs just love including ninja characters, and Shining Force is no exception. But western-style hired killers are bad and evil and not allowed, because of reasons.

What you need to understand about the apocalypse is that you aren't Mad Max. You're part of the skull pyramid in the background.

Some info about the religion of the world then, particularly as it pertains to Warpriests.

The church of the Empire teaches that there is one Goddess, whose name is Apollyon - and their archbishops receive divine messengers, so they would know!

When the monsters and demons came to destroy the world Her angels revealed themselves and helped save the world. They also taught mankind of the Eight Tenets, the core teachings of the faith. Each Warpriest focuses on one of these Tenets to grant them their strength. Even outside the Empire it goes like this; whether people have read the holy books or not, that is how the Goddess works after all. The Eight Tenets are:
* Justice (law and goodness, community, cooperation)
* Wisdom (knowledge, inspiration, guidance)
* Might (strength, discipline, the chain of command)
* Storm (the wrath that smites the wicked)
* Earth (the fields of the farmer and the endurance to bear burdens)
* Death (burial, comfort for the grieving)
* Sun (purity of spirit, life, healing)
* Moon (rest, prophecy, hope in the darkness)

What you need to understand about the apocalypse is that you aren't Mad Max. You're part of the skull pyramid in the background.

Sounds sweet as. Warpriest is still a go for me! Maybe I'd like to change my race to centaur, though. As for the Tenets, I'm currently attracted to Sun, Wisdom, Earth or Storm. Do I understand correctly there's no possiblity to adhere to more than one Tenet? I guess i'd like to go for as much healing as possible, so Sun?

(28-01-2017 10:26:45)Little asian dude Wrote: Yeah. Mt thought exactly. Is somewhat less usual. I would also envision my warpriest on the vanguard rather than the support from the back, if that's compatible at all.

I can deal with that. I imagine some portion of the evening may be spent on talking about the bi-weekly game thing, but Jasper will just have to deal with it. (Maybe he can log in to Minecraft while the rest talks that over... )

What you need to understand about the apocalypse is that you aren't Mad Max. You're part of the skull pyramid in the background.

Thanks to the wonders of online databases, I can actually quite easily handle chargen over email with people who already have a fairly certain idea of what they want. I simply copy-paste the handful of choices available and you guys mail me back what you'd like to do. Should take only a couple of minutes for most classes. Or would you gentlemen prefer a face to face meeting sometime?

What you need to understand about the apocalypse is that you aren't Mad Max. You're part of the skull pyramid in the background.